Kibworth Beauchamp Leicestershire Family History Guide
Kibworth Beauchamp is an Ancient Parish in the county of Leicestershire. Kibworth Harcourt is a chapelry of Kibworth Beauchamp.
Other places in the parish include: Smeeton Westerby.
Alternative names:
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1574
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1595
Nonconformists include: General Baptist, Independent/Congregational, Particular Baptist, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Kibworth Beauchamp
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
KIBWORTH-BEAUCHAMP, a village, a township, and a parish in Market-Harborough district, Leicester. The village stands near Kibworth r. station, and near the Union canal, 6 miles NW by N of Market-Harborough; and was once a market town.
The township includes the village, and extends beyond it. Real property, £3, 581. Pop. in 1851, 733; in 1861, 868. Houses, 199.
The parish contains also the townships of Kibworth-Harcourt and Smeeton-Westerby; the former of which has a post office under Leicester. Acres, 3,220. Real property, £10,582. Pop. in 1851, 1,752; in 1861, 1,867. Houses, 408.
The manor of K. B. belongs to Sir Henry Halford, Bart.; that of K. H., to Merton College, Oxford; and that of Smeeton, to Henry H. H. Hungerford, Esq. A moated camp, 54 feet high and 366 feet in circuit, and a large barrow, are in K. H. Framework-knitting is carried on.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborongh. Value, £850. Patron, Merton College, Oxford. The church stands on a height; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porches and an embattled tower; contains sedilia and a piscina; and was improved, at a cost of fully £1,150, in 1862. The tower of the previous church had a lofty spire; and while under repair in 1826, fell suddenly to the ground. The p. curacy of Smeeton-Westerby is a separate benefice.
There are chapels for Wesleyans and Free Methodists in K. B.; a chapel for Independents in K. H.; and a Baptist chapel in Smeeton.
A free grammar school was founded by some person or persons unknown; was rebuilt in 1725; and has £285 a year from endowment. A lectureship in the parish church, for Thursday evenings, was founded in 1836, by the Rev. J. Goodman, then head master of the school. There are also a national school, and charities £12.
Dr. John Aiken was a native; and Dr. Doddridge was minister of the Independent chapel here before going to Northampton.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
KIBWORTH-BEAUCHAMP (St. Wilfrid), a parish, in the union of Market-Harborough, hundred of Gartree, S. division of the county of Leicester, 5¼ miles (N. W.) from Harborough; containing, with the chapelry of Kibworth-Harcourt and the township of Smeeton-Westerby, 1740 inhabitants, of whom 748 are in the township of Kibworth-Beauchamp.
The parish comprises by measurement 4004 acres. The soil of about one-fourth of the land is a strong loam, alternated with clay, and of the remainder partly a black mould and partly sand; the surface is gently undulated. The Union canal passes through.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £39. 15., and in the gift of Merton College, Oxford: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1779; the glebe altogether comprises 633 acres. The church is a spacious edifice, with a tower lately erected in lieu of the former tower and spire, which were nearly 160 feet high, and suddenly fell down on the 23rd of July, 1825.
There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans.
A school was founded in 1709, and endowed by Sir Nathaniel Edwards with property which, having been augmented on the passing of the inclosure act, now produces £250 per annum.
At Smeeton-Westerby is a small chalybeate spring. Dr. John Aikin, a physician and ingenious author, was born here in 1747.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Smeeton Westerby
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
SMEETON-WESTERBY, a township-chapelry in Kibworth-Beauchamp parish, Leicester; ½ a mile S of Kibworth r. station, 1 NE of the Grand Union canal, and 5¼ NW of Market-Harborough. Post town, Kibworth-Harcourt, under Leicester. Real property, £3,293. Pop., 533. Houses, 114. The property is much subdivided.
The canal here burst its banks in Sept. 1865, and was emptied for a distance of 10 miles.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £200. Patron, the Rector of Kibworth. The church was built in 1849.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Directories
Kelly’s Directory of the Watch, Clock and Jewellery Trades 1880
KIBWORTH BEAUCHAMP
Watch & Clock Maker
Birtles Joseph
Source: The Post office [afterw.] Kelly’s directory of the watch and clock trades, goldsmiths and jewellers [&c. afterw.] Kelly’s directory of the watch, clock and jewellery tradesBy Kelly’s directories, ltd · 1880
Administration
- County: Leicestershire
- Civil Registration District: Market Harborough
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Leicester
- Diocese: Peterborough
- Rural Deanery: Gartree
- Poor Law Union: Market Harborough
- Hundred: Gartree (Leicestershire)
- Province: Canterbury